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Candida auris accounted for 4.4% of hospital infections in 2022

Candida auris accounted for 4.4% of hospital infections in 2022

A fungal superbug called Candida auris accounted for just 4.4% of all hospital infections in Greece last year, the head of the National Public Health Organization (EODY), Theoklis Zaoutis, said Saturday.

“During [the] Covid-19 [pandemic] there was a significant increase in Candida auris infections in intensive care units worldwide. In Greece we already have a report for the past year of all hospital-acquired microbes in the blood and Candida auris constitutes 4.4% of the specific infections,” Zaoutis told state-run radio station Praktoreio FM. 

However, the vast majority of multidrug-resistant infections affecting Greek hospitals for years are caused by Klebsiella and Acinetobacter, which together account for 40% of cases, he added.

For this reason, the fungus is not a danger for the general public outside hospitals, nor for those who enter a healthcare facility for a few days, he added.

Candida auris can cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems.

A few weeks ago, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sounded the alarm over the superbug noting it is hard to treat is spreading rapidly at an “alarming” rate in US hospitals.

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